Strange Attraction
by Maddy0245
Summary: The light seemed to be reflecting off of her mocha skin, causing her to glow. Her hair was luscious and curly. And her brown eyes seemed to have found a way to capture all the stars in the sky. Maureen was awestruck. She couldn't stop staring. She completely forgot about Mark, the date, everything vanished. All she could focus on was the gorgeous woman in front of her.
1. Chapter 1

Maureen Johnson walked along the busy sidewalk through the brisk autumn air. She was on her way back to the loft after brainstorming protest ideas at the performance space. She would have loved to stay back, preforming was her life, but it was getting cold and she had to get back. She was going on a date with Mark in a few hours. Oh Mark….where could she even begin with him. She had been thinking about the camera savvy bohemian all day.

When she first met him, she was head over heels. Now…. she wasn't really sure. Mark had been acting very stoic around her lately. Then other times he would be incredibly clingy, usually whenever his relatives came to visit, which has been becoming very frequent.

Part of her wondered if Mark and she were drifting or if it was just Mark going through some sort of midlife crisis. She honestly didn't know what to think of him. These thoughts kept buzzing around in her head the closer she grew to the loft.

She tried distracting herself by looking at little sights up and down the street. There were a few shops along the walk. She continued past a shoe store that was on her right. She quickly glanced through the window shop and instantly froze.

There was a woman in the store buying a pair of Doc Martens. Maureen tried to avert her attention to the pair of kick ass black high heel boots in front of her, but something about the woman just wouldn't allow her to look away.

The light seemed to be reflecting off of her mocha skin, causing her to glow. Her hair was luscious and curly. And her brown eyes seemed to have found a way to capture all the stars in the sky. Maureen was awestruck. She couldn't stop staring. She completely forgot about Mark, the date, everything vanished. All she could focus on was the gorgeous woman in front of her. Just before the store clerk came over to tell her to stop smudging her fingerprints on the window a familiar voice spoke.

"Hellllooooooo! Earth to Maureen!"

She turned around and playfully shoved the man, "Rodger you scared me!" she giggled.

"Fancy meeting you down here, I was on my way to get some new guitar strings with the money Collins sent from NYU…"

"You mean the money meant for all of us?"

"Uh…you window shopping? WOAH! I almost want to give you the money just so I could see the look on the guy's face when he sees you in those boots. Meow! Although aren't those a little too pricey for a date with Mark?"

 _Oh. The date. Right._

"I..was just.. looking." She snuck a peak back at the woman. She received her bag with her shoes and flashed this white, gracious smile that made a goofy, childlike grin on Maureen's face appear. Rodger didn't appear to notice, he was too caught up in admiring his guitar, as always.

"Well, don't keep Mark waiting, he said to meet him in an hour at the Life Café." he turned on his heel and walked down the street.

"Will do." She spoke softly turning away. She bumped into something. When she looked up she saw what, or rather whom she collided with. It was her.

"Oh I'm sorry! My bad, I wasn't paying attention to where I was go…uh are you alright?"

Maureen froze, blush colored her cheeks. She just managed to stutter out a "H..hi" before sprinting away towards the direction of home, her face turning from light pink to bright red.

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Half an hour later Maureen walked into the small bathroom provided in the loft she shared with her friends. She wore a slimming black short sleeved dress with simple black heels and her favorite silver bracelet. She curled her dark hair into her signature ringlet style and put on her makeup. When she finished she stared at herself in the mirror. Something was different.

She was no longer the excited college girl who loved the metrosexual more than her favorite red lipstick. She hadn't stopped thinking about the woman at the shoe store. She wondered…what if she really was. No. No no no. Maureen Johnson liked guys. Maureen Johnson was straight. There was in no chance in hell that she was attracted to that woman, at least that's what she wanted to think.

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Later that evening at the Life café, Mark and Maureen sat across each other in a booth sipping iced teas. A waiter came over with their meal.

"Two Tofu Dogs for the lovely couple"

"Thanks Bill" Mark replied

As he walked away Maureen began to pick at her food. An hour passed.

"Maureen what's wrong? You've barely touched your food and you haven't said a word all night. Please talk to me. Tell me what's going on in that beautiful brain of yours."

 _Beautiful brain, dear god Mark, in what life did I think your compliments were 'one of a kind'?!_

"I just have a lot on my plate right now is all."

"Well I'm sure you'll figure out whatever's on your mind"

 _Oh yea. Figuring out my friking sexuality is going to be a breeze I'm sure._

"Can I get you two any deserts?" asked the waiter. Mark whispered something in his ear and the waiter turned on his heel and headed towards the fuse box. All of the lights around them dimmed to almost completely off, except the light above their table. All the attention in the restaurant directed towards the two of them almost immediately. Mark stood.

"My dear Maureen. While we all have our moments in life, some of the best come from love, and I have loved you ever since we met back in college when you were leading that riot in the dorms. Over these past few years you have made me the happiest man in all of New York. I am so proud to call you my girlfriend, and I would love to give you everything that you want in life. Sure there are times when we are broke, hungry, freezing, but you make everything in this damn city feel ok again when you're by my side."

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a ring shaped like a camera. Inside of the lens was a small diamond.

 _This is so something Mark would buy as a….oh no….he can't be._

Maureen chuckled nervously; her heart rapidly beating and all of her thoughts and emotions tied into a knot.

He knelt down on one knee

 _Shit!_

She shook in her seat. Mark, so emotionally on edge, saw this as she was so overjoyed that she was speechless and took it as a yes. He slipped the ring on her finger. The crowd took it as a yes as well and cheers rang throughout the café.

Mark wasted no time in talking about plans for the future. Maureen still froze to her spot in the seat of the booth.

"So we might have to have a conversation with Rodger about moving. If we are officially going to be man and wife, there can't be a third party. Maybe we could turn his room into…a nursery."

Maureen, still rooted to her seat, was contemplating everything that caused her to wind up in this situation. As her memories flickered she spotted something so beautiful and radiant that reality completely disappeared. That mocha skin, those starry eyes, and that smile.

"Maybe I could get in touch with Collins and see if he can find Rodger a place to…"

"No"

"Hmmmm? Of course baby, your right, I wouldn't have the heart to throw Rodger out. He could make a pretty good wedding singer if we soemhiw just got him off of the drugs for a little…."

 _Damn it Mark why are you making this so hard?!_

"Mark you don't understand. I just can't do the Rodger debacle, or the nursery, or…the marriage."

A plethora of expressions waved over Mark. Confusion, shock, depression, but Maureen had never seen the last emotion on Mark's face. Rage.

"Ya know this is so typical of you. Ms. 'Live in the Moment' who doesn't give a damn about what anyone else thinks. Has absolutely no concern for what's going on in other people's heads. And to think I actually thought you were worth it."

A wave of hurt struck her but she managed to stay strong.

"Mark, honey, I told you I just have a lot on my plate right now. If we could just take some time away from each other, a little break. It could give us both the opportunity to think some things over and work stuff out."

"Don't start with that shit Maureen!" The café's patrons once again turned their attention towards the scene. "Do you know how long we have been together?! FOUR. FUCKING. YEARS! You and I both know that 'taking a break' just means your dumping my sorry ass!

"Mark…I.."

"Just stop Maureen! For once just quit pretending like the world is your stage and recognize other people outside of the haze you call your life!"

Her lip quivered as tears started to well up in her green eyes.

"Fine. Alright. You want me to recognize your opinions, I will. If to you taking a break means I'm dumping you, then that's exactly what it will be."

It took everything the diva had to walk out of that building with her head held high as all eyes were on her. The second she stepped out the wind whipped her face, and the realization of what she had just done had caught up to her. She managed to make it a few blocks down the street before she bursted into tears.

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Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reading this chapter! I promise there will be more to come very soon! This is my first fanfic so constructive criticism is appreciated. Have a wonderful day! *sips Starbucks*


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own RENT or any of its characters.

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Joanne was walking home from work at her father's law firm. It had been a tough day at the office and she was glad to be going home. While she hated the occasional drunken clients she was assigned and the faulty air conditioning that her father was to stubborn to take care of, she did love going to work. It exposed her to people. Joanne never really was a people person, ever since she was a little girl she always had trouble getting close to people. It was something she needed to work on but never really got the chance to. The firm at least helped her make a few acquaintances.

She abruptly stopped walking when she saw a slumped figure sitting on the edge of the curb near the crosswalk.

She had dark brown hair, almost black from a distance, in a curled, ring-like style swept over her face and shoulders due to the chilly wind. She had a black dress on that made her look very slimming. Her heels were off of her feet and sitting next to her on the curb.

A man tripped over the woman's shoes while entering the crosswalk

"Mind keeping your shit outta people's way next time"

The woman lifted her head up revealing a thin face with strong cheekbones and green eyes. "Sorry." she sniffed as she moved the shoes onto her lap. She looked like she would have said more, but she had this lifeless gaze in her eyes and it seemed she was just too exhausted to care.

 _Ok, she is way too attractive to be a street bum._

Joanne carefully made her way towards the stranger and sat on the curb next to her. The woman didn't glance at her and just stared motionless at the heels in her lap.

 _What the hell am I doing? What if she really is a psychotic bum who if I get within 3 feet of her, she'll stab me 11 times?! Come on Joanne, she doesn't look dangerous. If she really was crazy she would have jumped that guy who gave her a hard time a few moments ago. All you're doing is talking to her right? Besides, this will help you be a little more social. Just don't say the worng thing._

"Hi I'm um Joanne, and you are?"

Nothing.

 _She obviously doesn't want to talk. Just leave the poor girl alone._

Before she was about to get up, Joanne saw the girls tearstained cheeks through her messy, windblown, hair.

"Hey uh, I'm sorry that man shouted at you earlier, but it's alright. It was tame compared to most New Yorkers. You don't have to be upset…uh"

Joanne nervously wrapped her arm around the stranger's shoulders. She finally glanced up towards her, eyes red and puffy. The moment she directed her gaze to Joanne's face her eyes grew as wide as saucers and her back immediately straightened.

 _Odd. Have we met before? Did I defend her in a case? Wait a minute!_

"So you think you could get away with bumping into me earlier huh?" Joanne smiled slyly.

 _Did I really just say that? Where did that come from?_

"What can I say, I'm usually pretty slick. It's just been an off day for me _._ " She spoke in a hoarse voice, wiping the tears from her cheeks and eyes, "I'm Maureen by the way."

"So uh, Maureen, why are you sitting on the curb of a busy crosswalk at this time of night?"

"It's kind of a long story, I won't spare you the details, and you look like you have somewhere to be".

Joanne glanced down at her apparel. "Oh these are just my work clothes, I'm an attorney. I was just on my way home." She saw Maureen retreat back into her former slumped position when she mentioned home. _Is she really homeless? Where could she have gotten those clothes? They look relatively new._

"Well uh, I don't need to be at home right away. We could go grab a coffee if you'd like? My treat. It could be like a….. _I can't believe I'm saying this_ ….girls night out. I know we barely know each other but…"

"That sounds nice" she stood "Lead the way"

Joanne was taken aback a bit. "Alright, this way"

As the two walked all Joanne could think was, _Where is all this confidence coming from?_

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 **Sorry that this one was a little on the short side. I had plans with continuing on in this chapter but I have to get up early tomorrow to go to orientation for school :(. After that I will be at my dads for a few days so I wouldn't be able to update for even longer. So I figured I would put up a short, sweet introduction to Joanne and then begin to build the two's relationship in the next chapter on. I already have it planned out I just need to wait til this weekend when I can get back to my laptop. Have a nice night everyone! *sips Starbucks***


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